CHAPTER 1 Introduction Iraq lies at the very heart of the Middle East like a triangular-shaped wedge between the countries of Saudi Arabia Syria and Iran It also shares much shorter borders with Kuwait to the southeast Jordan to the west and Turkey in the north Today’s Iraq was once known as the ancient land of Mesopotamia or land between the rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates The land’s fertile soils made it a natural site for some of the world’s earliest civilizations Sumerians PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Area total 170,458 sq mi 437,072 sq km land 168,543 sq mi 432,162 sq km water 1,915 sq mi 4,910 sq km Highest point unnamed peak 11,844 ft 3,611 m local Kurdish name Cheekha Dar or black tent Lowest point Persian Gulf 0 ft 0 m Land boundaries total 2,263 mi 3,650 km border countries Iran 904 mi 1,458 km Jordan 112 mi 181 km Kuwait 149 mi 240 km Saudi Arabia 505 mi 814 km Syria 375 mi 605 km Turkey 218 mi 352 km Coastline 36 mi 58 km Source CIA World Factbook Akkadians Babylonians and Assyrians Underneath its soil lies Iraq’s richest resource oil Iraq now has the world’s third-largest proven conventional crude oil reserves Lowlands deserts and mountains Situated in central and southeastern Iraq the broad floodplains of the Tigris-Euphrates basin Many ancient cities grew up along the banks of the Euphrates River At nearly 1,736 mi 2,800 km long the river runs from Turkey to the Persian Gulf Much of its central section like here in Khan al-Baghdadi in the province of al-Anbar is lined with date palm groves
The Zagros Mountains in the northeastern region of Iraq form a natural geographic barrier between Iraq’s central plains and the Iranian plateau to the east Mostly situated in Iran the Zagros range is about 558 mi 900 km long and 2149 mi 40 km wide consists of vast deserts in the west and south including the western desert region called Wadiyah which is almost 1,640 ft 500 m above sea level make up about a third of the country Much of this land has rich soil that was once ideal for agriculture However it has been over-irrigated and some of it has been abandoned owing to its high salt content Although lowlands form much of the landscape of Iraq highlands rise to the north and northeast including the high elevations of the Kurdistan region The Anti-Taurus and Zagros mountains form the borders with Turkey and Iran respectively Between Iraq’s two great rivers in the north is an arid plateau in an upland region known as al-Jazirah or the island Here the Sinjar Mountains rise to a height of over 4,920 ft 1,500 m Forty percent of Iraq’s land area Two rivers Iraq’s two mighty rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates begin their journey farther north in Turkey and flow in a southeasterly direction along roughly parallel courses through the country until they meet at the southern Iraqi town of al-Qurnah The merged river called the Shatt al-Arab or stream of the Arabs continues south for the final 124 mi 200 km of its route to the coast The Shatt al-Arab passes the port of Basra where it forms part of the eastern boundary with Iran before finally emptying into the Persian Gulf With Kuwait to the west and Iran to the east Iraq’s coastline on the Persian Gulf is a short stretch of only 36 mi 58 km 7
